Settembre Culturale

A whole month dedicated to books and ideas

Settembre Culturale is the literary festival that, for nearly twenty years, has marked the end of summer in Agropoli, in the province of Salerno, in the heart of the Cilento region and Campania. This is not just a single evening or a weekend event: throughout the month of September, the city hosts a packed calendar of book presentations, debates, and public conversations, with over thirty free-admission events.

The formula that has made the event so recognizable is both simple and ambitious: alternating big names from television journalism, print media, non-fiction, the judiciary, politics, and national institutions with debut authors, while also giving space to small presses and local publishers. Over the years, this balance has transformed Agropoli into a true "city of books" at the end of summer.

The venues: La Fornace and the Angioino-Aragonese Castle

The festival's headquarters are the "A. Guida" gardens at La Fornace, on Viale Lombardia: an open-air space that, during the still-mild September evenings on the Cilento coast, welcomes the public to sit before the authors' stage. The most significant meetings are held at the Angioino-Aragonese Castle, the fortress that dominates the historic center and the port of Agropoli, while the "E. De Filippo" Cineteatro hosts indoor events.

Program sections

The program is organized into thematic areas that return year after year, helping visitors navigate the dozens of meetings:

• Libri da gustare (Books to Savor) — the relationship between writing, food, and Mediterranean culture;
• Città dello sport (City of Sport) — stories and testimonies from the world of sports;
• La forza delle donne (The Strength of Women) — female voices in fiction and current events;
• Arte (Art) — art books, photography, and heritage;
• Autobiografie (Autobiographies) — memoirs and life stories;
• Attualità (Current Affairs) — investigations, journalism, and present-day issues;
• Giovani autori (Young Authors) — space for debut writers;
• Storia locale (Local History) — Cilento, Agropoli, and the Mezzogiorno as told by their scholars.

Awards and recurring events

Alongside the presentations, Settembre Culturale has established several rituals that the Agropoli public knows by heart. The "Settembre Culturale - Città di Agropoli" Award is presented to a personality who has distinguished themselves in the cultural or civil sphere. "Bravo è bello" traditionally opens the festival by rewarding local high school students who achieved top marks in their final exams. One evening each year is also dedicated to the memory of the historian and Southern Italy scholar Domenico Chieffallo. The program is rounded out by the cultural salon, the festival library, and morning newspaper readings with authors in the city squares.

A festival recognized beyond Cilento

The event is organized by the Campania Cultura Association, chaired by Annamaria Petolicchio, with the support of the municipal administration led by Mayor Roberto Mutalipassi. For several consecutive years, Settembre Culturale has been selected by the Turin International Book Fair as part of the "Luci sui festival" project, which gathers the most significant book and reading festivals in Italy: a recognition that brought Agropoli to the Lingotto and adds to the City that Reads status obtained by the Municipality.

Agropoli and Cilento in September

Participating in Settembre Culturale also means discovering Agropoli at one of its best times: the sea is still warm, the tourist pressure of August has eased, and the old town, perched around the castle, can be visited at a leisurely pace. The city is the gateway to the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and is located a short distance from the archaeological sites of Paestum and Velia. A festival that, more than just an appendix to the summer season, has become an identity-defining event for the Cilento community.